14.4 Revelation – Satan Hates

Man was made in the image of God. Gen 1:26 says, “Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness…”

Satan, and all evil and wickedness, hates God. It detests Him and rejects Him and all His ways. It loathes the light and the truth and hides from both.

When satan and the demonic and evil forces corrupt men and turn mankind to their ways, they do not then love these wicked and sinful men. They do not look upon them with love and brotherhood and admiration. They detest them because, no matter how evil and wicked they become, these men still have an appearance of the likeness of God within them.

Evil will use men, but it won’t have grace for men. It does not seek to fill them up and make them whole in fellowship – it only wants to cause hurt and harm.

When the Abyss is opened in Revelation 9, and the beasts of the deep emerge, they show no kinship with wicked men. But God and God alone puts limits on them; He restrains them and the amount of pain and the duration they are allowed. God doesn’t distort the reality of what they are, but even in this, He shows mercy and restraint.

Do not be deceived by the lies of evil. There is no party in hell. There is no moral code of conduct among the wicked that bonds them together. There is no brothership or kinship or family. There is no laughter among the sinners.

But, the lies we allow ourselves to believe can so totally shape our perception of reality that we believe the lie. Notice it in our passage today. Even under 5 months of physical and emotional agony like we can hardly imagine, the people did not seek life, they only sought death. They didn’t seek light, they only saw darkness.

Death and darkness, sin and wickedness, never provide answers or relief – only more rejection and pain. As hard as sin tries to shape mankind into the image of Satan, we are still rejected and hated by the demons of darkness.

My Answers:

9.
Beasts and torment, suffering, death of people – wrath was on humans not on the land, sky, sea, air or other creatures, power tails

10.
a.
the grass, plants, tree or any that had the seal of God on their foreheads

b.
Not allowed to kill but only to torture them for five months, and the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes. – Who would want that pain and agony. God does not wish it for them, but allow their king to do it to his people.

11.
demons, idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone or wood (all man-made). Idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Worship and prize what comes from man but discount or deny what comes from God.